Spooky visual novel The Mermaid's Curse is the best kind of sequel: a self-contained mystery

There are plenty of superficial similarities between The Mermaid's Curse and the original Paranormasight, a 2023 visual novel that's quietly built up a reputation as one of the best mystery games of the last few years. There's the artistic style, the spooky tone, the use of an ensemble cast who have nothing and everything to do with one another.

I was happy to see all these things that helped Paranormasight find an adoring yet undeservedly small audience present in this unexpected sequel, because I'm very ready to spend more hours picking through the shattered fragments of meticulously researched horror adventure that blurs the line between fiction and reality. But what I really love about this second game is that everyone, regardless of whether they picked the original apart or are hearing about it for the first time this week, immediately gets stuck in the same bloodstained boat.

The Mermaid's Curse has the confidence to essentially start over, and that means nothing I mastered in the earlier game will help me survive this one.

The focus this time is on mermaids and (I'm pretty sure they left this part out of the Disney movie) the twisted immortality a single bite of their flesh can bring. Not knowing exactly what's going on is considered a normal part of the experience and the script, always fond of prodding at the fourth wall, makes repeated efforts to emphasise that any uncertainty is entirely natural. Characters complain how easy it is to confuse a tangled web of dusty old dynasties, or how annoying it can be when historical records mention someone having a chance encounter with a magical creature and little else, as if the observer just shrugged and let it wander off.

These instances offer acknowledgment and reassurance to stick with the mystery, welcome reminders that you're exactly as confused as you're supposed to be.

I'm not even granted the reassurance of a familiar landmark. Kameshima is a fictional island located in the very real Ise Bay, located about an hour's flight away from Sumida City, whose map I learned in the first game. Kameshima is based on Kamishima, which really is sitting in Ise Bay, and is used as the photographic basis of many key locations in the game.

More than a pretty change of scenery, this relocation introduces a whole new culture and expects me to learn brand new skills, too. Specifically those of the ama—Japanese freedivers whose practice sits somewhere between job and ancient tradition. Their work is inextricably intertwined with the region and the story; in fact they're so important it's not enough to just read about them, I have no choice but to experience their particular style of diving firsthand. Thanks to a playable 3D drowning simulator I slowly learn to appreciate just how rare it is to find and catch a lobster, the importance of not being too greedy (even if only for my life's sake), and the fear of spending too long in the water.

With this new frame of reference all the superstitions and spiritual protections I encounter throughout the adventure, ranging from sewn sigils to small shrines, feel like perfectly sensible precautions. It's also easier to understand the behaviour of the other ama I meet.

I appreciate why some want to preserve their unique way of life and sympathise with another's wish to ditch the old ways when I can recall a diving session of my own where all I had to show for a near-death experience were a few common clams and sea urchins. When the time comes to dive into the depths on mermaid-related matters, I can feel in my bones just how dangerous it is without the game having to say another word.

Using fresh knowledge and skills I've personally accrued along the way—me the player, not me the character—is a recurring theme, and extends all the way to its extensive array of constantly updated reference material. I'll be honest, I tend to politely ignore most in-game databases. They usually come in one of two types: the practical type designed to remind players of things they've already been told but may have forgotten, and the superfluous type designed to tell people what a random character's uncle ate for breakfast last month, down to the exact minute on an invented calendar system.

The Mermaid's Curse follows a different path, choosing to weave its files and the additional information they silently contain directly into the puzzle solving, encouraging me to spontaneously conduct my own extended research—and maybe, if I really pore over the details and piece a few clues together, even pre-empt some huge plot twists. More than just a chance to feel smug, the script actually makes space for my unspoken findings, featuring all sorts of easily missed little nudges, sly glances at the camera, and strange small pauses in unexpected places that all but say "You worked this one out already, didn't you?"

Some major developments exist as open secrets for an excruciatingly long while, the game patiently waiting for the perfect moment to unleash these revelations, meta-torturing me with things it knows I know but refuses to officially acknowledge.

And when these events do finally come to a head their dramatic twists may hinge on me filling in a blank text box, like the kind you'd normally find on an insurance form. Thrilling gameplay? Yes, actually. This is the biggest and most exciting demand a complex adventure can make of a player: everything lurches to a stop not so I can pick Name #3 from a short list, but to manually type in my own freeform response.

What do I know? What have I understood? Have I worked out the true name of this mysterious individual yet?

As I nervously mull over everything I've learned a murderer stands a few feet away. The Japanese names of specific stars, the activities of centuries-old warlords, the importance of aquatic observation… nothing I ever saw or did in the first Paranormasight could have prepared me to crack this case, and I can only take a strange sort of pleasure in how lost at sea I am. This self-contained sequel is a better story, and a better experience, for daring to cast everyone adrift.

You can find Paranormasight: The Mermaid's Curse on Steam.